Seized by the System

At this point, Xu Qing took out a cage and was ready to put the snake in.

The snake’s head was tucked into its coiled body, its eyes revealing a glimmer of maliciousness and deceitfulness.

‘This must be good luck. There really is a human so stupid to take me in. I have exhausted all my energy and got away from the Sanguine Arcane Realm ¹ . I can finally fight back when I weather through this obstacle!’ the snake thought to itself.

As it was deep in thought, a sword of energy suddenly fell from the sky and punctured it precisely through the head.

The team sent each another bewildered looks. In a blink of an eye, a clump of black smoke dissipated, filling the air with evil and death. Everyone immediately dodged it by moving out of the way.

“This… why does this feel like the auras we’ve sensed in that World?” Qiao Zijiang said with surprise.

Xu Qing was unprepared. She looked up towards the sky, and as predicted, there was a person up there.

“Why did you kill it? Although it was a devil, it had the right to live!” she said grievously.

Vigilante A stared at her coldly and said, “I, Vigilante A, in my entire life need not explain my actions… All you have to know is that I have done no one wrong!”

After he said those words, he casually flew away, with his silhouette emanating an aura of forcefulness — he knew that no one could do anything to him.

Xu Qing was dumbfounded, but she was helpless at the same time.

A great number of the others were starstruck and that included Qiao Zijiang.

Xu Rui could not help but admire him. “A true man’s actions should be like his!”

System Notification: [The System has used “Heavensward Sword Technique” and attacked Ten-Thousand Year Snake Devil, the Frontline Leader of the Devil Army.

Snake Devil is under “Extremely Weakened” Condition.

Snake Devil is killed.

The system gains 10000000 experience points.” ]

After reading the system notifications, Fang Ning said with disdain, “Sir, you’re stealing other people’s famous words again.”

“Listen to what you’re saying! Can this, a vigilante’s action, be called theft?” Sie System argued.

The System, in turn, said weird things, such as “If a vigilante sneaks into people’s houses and rummages their stuff, it’s not stealing but borrowing” with much certainty.

“Don’t you go changing the topic. We’ll put this aside for the meantime. Killing that snake monster just now has yielded us ten million experience points. This evidently proves that your inference earlier was correct. These devils will be completely different after absorbing vitality…” Fang Ning had gotten a vague grasp on the plot.

“Hmph. My master-level intuition is not to be trifled with, you know,” Sir System said gleefully.

However, Fang Ning suddenly realized something. “Stop talking. I understand now. Give me my body back and return to Bodhisattva Spirit King immediately.”

“You want it back, you only need to ask. Why the temper?” Sir System was peeved.

…

The Land of Sanguinity.

Bodhisattva Spirit King and Tianjin Fawang were patrolling around.

“What a pity! We’ve vanquished only six of them and allowed a cunning snake to slither away…” Fawang lamented.

“Haha, it’s nothing. At this time, in this world, it has nowhere to run to.” Bodhisattva Spirit King shook his head as he said that.

“Oh, that too. If the Venerable Dragon Lord returns, the creature cannot hide from his Spirit Gaze as long as it’s still on Earth.” Fawang nodded.

At this moment, Fang Ning materialized beside them.

“Oh, speak of the devil.” Bodhisattva Spirit King smiled politely.

“Mm, I was out there killing a snake monster, and it may have occupied some of my time,” Fang Ning explained cursorily and said after, “as Bodhisattva said, those devils are more like vessels. And now, I finally understand everything.”

“Oh, what is your view on this?” Bodhisattva asked.

“This is thanks to Bodhisattva who enlightened me. The devil lords in the Underworld were surely thinking ahead when they devised this nefarious act. They wanted to use those devils as a mode of transportation — to transport death auras from the Underworld, empty them into the Earth and transport vitality back to them in return!” Fang Ning revealed their plan with certainty.

“Tsk…” Tianjin Fawang shivered at the idea. Then, he glanced at Vigilante A with a complicated expression; his emotions currently in turmoil.

Bodhisattva Spirit King, on the other hand, put his hands together with a serene face. “I see. Venerable One is really wise. These devils had planned this for a long time, but their plot was instantly seen through by the Venerable One. But this plan of theirs was quite overt. They must’ve formulated this plan without fear of it being unearthed.”

“Yes. Bodhisattva, you’re right. This is a long-term commitment after all. It can be likened to those developed countries in the West that export their trash to other countries, and even though these developing countries know that it is bad for them, they still persistent in importing them. This will continue unless they’re developed enough to be on the same level as the other side.”

Fang Ning sighed as he shook his head.

“Yes. Judging from the Underworld’s power, the current Earth cannot restrict devils from entering to and fro this world. The portals between both places can only be blockaded when someone on this world achieves sainthood,” Bodhisattva continued after a pause.

“Sainthood?’ Fang Ning shook his head. He was not the novice he once was back then. He now was privy to more insider information, and he understood clearly that achieving sainthood in a space such as Earth was ten times more difficult than doing so in the Upper Realm. A hundred times, a thousand times even. Scratch that, it was impossible.

“Yes. Sainthood is indeed unreachable. In the billions of years that have passed, there are only four saints in the Upper Realm. The conversion of this world is still recent; it is unknown how many crises and hardships must pass for one to ascend to the position,” Bodhisattva Spirit King agreed.

Tianjin Fawang remained silent. He had a nagging feeling that the ten devil lords were not the only people involved in this.

He could not say much from his standpoint.

The two venerable ones beside him were completely on the new world’s side no matter the relationship they had with the Upper Realm.

It could not be said that they were flighty or disloyal, only that they had different priorities.

What he did not know was that while Bodhisattva Spirit King was tangled in the Upper Realm’s affairs, Fang Ning was a bona fide local.

There was already a theory claiming that the locals were strongest in the world of cultivation while travelers were trash compared to them.

Universe travelers would have the advantage for a while, but their assimilation to the world was inevitable.

Whether or not a person originally belonged would very possibly be the crux to achieving sainthood.

After all, achieving sainthood could not be without the influence of the Heavenly Axiom and space and time.

Fang Ning did not notice the shift in Tianjin Fawang’s expression when he started to discuss methods with the Bodhisattva. “I went to Master Zhi Nan for answers just now. He was unable to reveal the devil lords’ plan to me, seeing that he was affected by his internal devil. But after consideration, it seems to be as I have said… Master Zhi Nan, as kind-hearted and altruistic as he is, wanted to convert those devils in that outer planet and produce vitality for them too. Now it seems like this will in turn aid the devil lords in their plans.”

At this point, Fang Ning suddenly had the urge to laugh, but he resisted it because he already foresaw how it would end.

“Sir System, you’re really devious. These devil lords have planned this for eons, only for you to reap what they sow… I, Master Fang, am truly floored!” he expressed his admiration.

“Hmph, did you only realize this by now?” Sir System did not understand the sudden praise, but it hastened to claim the credit for itself. “I’m an intelligent system, you know. These douchebags’ schemes are all as clear as day to me. I’m only going with the flow — this ain’t worth a mention.”

‘Going with the flow? I would rather believe that fortune favors fools. ‘

Fang Ning did not bother to make his point clear; might as well let the fool gloat for a while.

Bodhisattva Spirit King went blank at his words, but then his gaze betrayed his complicated thoughts. “I see. A layer after another, all weaved so tightly together that it was impossible to find fault with it — this is truly their style. Even though we have already seen through their plans, we have to go with it as opposed to stopping it by force, lest both sides implode upon clashing.”

Fang Ning calmed down and expressed his agreement after a moment of thought.

This situation, aside from when Sir System was amassing more points from it, was unavoidable. If they attempted to do so, an endless deluge of devils would have crammed in until the Earth burst.

Releasing them into space was also unfeasible.

As Black Robe had said, if they released this sheer number of unidentified devils into space — a place void of vitality could very well cause mysterious mutations. From it would evolve devils that could survive in space, the process like the evolving of “super bacteria” from antibiotics.

This universe was no longer a fully materialist one after all. The Axiom had retained loopholes that allowed mysterious entities to exist.

Devils — incorporeal, shapeless creatures that could slip into the tiniest cracks and assume thousands of shapes and forms. Their ability to acclimate themselves was definitely the top in all forms of life.

There was a reason why the lords in the Upper Realm would allow their continued presence in the world.

They were now pawns of the Upper Realm, their purpose being the prolonging of the realm’s lifespan.